Santorum Wins in Kansas, but Romney Lead Grows

I’d like to apologize for the lack of content this weekend. I’ve been crazy busy giving speeches this over the last few days… I kind of felt like I was running for office! I’ll get into more detail on the speeches later in the week if I get the chance. I’d also like to say that I’m impressed by how many people continued to peruse DYNAMO in my absence. It looks like we’re building a following! Thank you for your support.

Just as it seemed that Santorum might have struck a big blow against Mitt Romney, the delegate count comes in to confirm the opposite.

Rick Santorum’s coup was supposed to be Kansas, a conservative southern state which he won with 52% of the primary vote. But this win is unimpressive for three reasons, the last of which is the ultimate humiliation.

First, Santorum was operating in a much more conservative setting than the last couple of races, and he was largely expected to do well in the south in any case. If Romney had won, it would have been a big upset, of course, because “Massachusetts moderates” get a lot less love south of the Mason-Dixon line then Santorum-like conservatives. But Romney wasn’t planning on winning in any case, bringing me to point two…

Santorum garnered 52% of the vote in Kansas, yes, but his chief rivals, Romney and Gingrich, spent almost no time campaigning in the state. Essentially, Santorum was left votes on the table, and of course, he took them. But the 52% number is inflated. He would have done much worse had his opponents actually tried.

Thirdly, and most embarrassingly for Santorum, Mitt Romney was actually able to increase his delegate lead as the results of the primary came in. Why? Unlike the other campaigns, Romney’s team has the resources to campaign for votes up to 8,000 miles away from Washington in places like American Samoa and Guam. Romney won 25 of the 27 “island delegates,” which, coupled with his gains from the proportional split in Kansas, actually added up to more than what Rick Santorum got for winning the entire state. So ironically, Santorum’s big win in a large state actually still left him further behind Romney than when he started.

You can’t beat this guy, Rick. Maybe you should just get out of the way so we can get on to Obama…

One comment on “Santorum Wins in Kansas, but Romney Lead Grows”

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